LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 19 Florida Southern College men's basketball team opened the Sunshine State Conference schedule with an 85-75 win over Eckerd College on Wednesday night at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House.
"We are happy to get our first conference win of the season," said head coach
Mike Donnelly. "We are very much a work in progress, but we emphasized to our guys to focus on winning as many runs as possible throughout the game to help secure the win."
No. 19 Florida Southern had another big night from
Alex Steen, who finished with 25 points and six boards. Shooting 8-of-13 from the field, Steen added nine free throws in 10 attempts. Outside of his picturesque dunks, Steen had some big mid-range jumpers and led the team in steals with four.
Jadin Booth had three from behind the arc and another four from the field to give him 19 points on the night, two rebounds, and four assists, tied with
Dominick Denny for most on the team.
Hugo Mattioli had 24 minutes off the bench for 10 points and a couple of boards in a great showing by the junior.
Amare Miller matched the six boards by Steen as team leaders and had four points, followed by
Peyton Gerald with eight points,
Joe Moon IV with six points, and
Donovan Smith hitting two from deep for six points.
The Tritons (1-2, 0-1 SSC) had three in double digits, led by Isaiah Placide with 22 points and Timot Thompson with 20 points. Kent Garard was the last Triton in double digits with 18 points. Eckerd led the rebounding line with 40-to-33 against Florida Southern.
Florida Southern took the first points of the game with a Steen layup and a back-and-forth battle for the next eight minutes. Halfway through the first, the Mocs climbed to a 12-point lead to keep the Tritons at bay for most of the first 20. With two minutes left in the half, Eckerd came within two points, 33-31 FSC. The close game was shortlived as FSC went on an 11-0 run to end the half 44-31.
The second half opened in favor of the Mocs again with a 15-point lead that stayed in double digits through the first six minutes. Some missed threes and shooting fouls allowed the Tritons to again come within two at the halfway point 57-55. Booth and Steen took over the ball for the next several minutes to combine for another 10-0 run and a 71-57 game with under eight to go. FSC kept Eckerd 10+ points behind for the reminder of the game to win the SSC opener 85-75.
No. 19 Mocs will travel to Augusta, Ga. for a matchup against Augusta on Sunday, Nov. 17 with a 2 p.m. tipoff at the Christenberry Fieldhouse.
